And the Rise of America's Secret Government - Allen Dulles

Astounding account of the rise of America's corporate elite and our Military Industrial Complex, including it's early ties to the NAZI kingdom. Well documented... biblioed... a page turner that will change how you see this country (in a good way) and help you understand the secret forces behind the decisions our government makes.

Surprisingly easy to read and understand for a 600 plus page book on the one man's impact on US foreign policy. Each chapter is stand alone and you can put the book down for a week and come back to it without missing a beat. There are a few times when the author conflates coincidences (the JFK assassination is the biggest example), but overall it is a good read.

An interesting perspective on the Kennedy assassinations. The book goes well beyond being a biography of Allen Dulles. I enjoyed it but came away having difficulty separating fact from fiction. The book meanders through a level of detail on tangentially connected people and issues that can be a bit confusing.

James Angleton himself said that he thought Allen Dulles should be in hell for what he did. Am I correct on that? Read the last page of Talbot's book.

This should be the first book you read in order to understand notorious, very powerful CIA chief Allen Dulles

I am currently reading this book so this will be a “quickie review.” David Talbot has delivered us a very fine biography on Allen Dulles and it focuses on Dulles being at the center of a “secret government” that ran (or still runs) American foreign policy. Unfortunately, a lot of these CIA machinations over the decades have involved murdering heads of government, overthrowing elections, deception, false flag bombings (think Gladio), mind control experiments and murdering John Kennedy.

Talbot makes a point to say that he does not think Lyndon Johnson was the mastermind of the JFK assassination. Oh, I strongly disagree. Lyndon Johnson, the traitorous VP, was the grand marshall of the JFK assassination. LBJ himself told Madeleine Brown that US intelligence and the Dallas oilmen (LBJ’s inner circle) were involved as well.

So at a bare minimum Allen Dulles, by his fraudulent manipulation of the Warren Commission, is an accessory-after-the-fact to the murder of John Kennedy. Was Dulles also a key plotter in the death of JFK? More likely his proteges worked hand in glove with Lyndon Johnson to murder JFK and Dulles was called in for the coverup and LBJ’s BFF (best friend forever) J. Edgar Hoover had begun the cover up of JFK’s murder within hours of the man’s death.

I am thinking folks like Gen. Edward Lansdale, David Atlee Phillips, James Angleton and E. Howard Hunt (close to Dulles, helped him write his book) were involved in the JFK assassination at the behest of LBJ who was on the verge of being destroyed by the Kennedys.

There is much, much more to this book than the JFK assassination and I urge scholars and other interested parties to take the time to read this book.

I think this book caused Rush Limbaugh to get on the radio in another of his ridiculous “Oswald was a lone nut commie and he killed JFK rants” which he just did out of the blue this past week.

Sorry, Rush, Oswald was COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE and he was most likely a pure CIA-manipulated patsy in the JFK assassination.

A very good book, aptly named. Very few people understand the resistance JFK faced within his own government from non-elected officials. I vividly recall an interview he gave Walter Cronkite. Cronkite asked JFK about the "office of the president" and JFK remarked that the power was much less than he had imagined and the responsibilities much greater. The consensus of the Joint Chiefs and the CIA was that we would have to fight the Russians sometime; ideally before they reached nuclear parity. By standing firm against these forces JFK probably prevented world war III and saved millions of lives.

Fascinating, and very well written. What to do about the Rockefellers, the Corporate Elite, and their factotums in government? Dismantle the CIA,, unplug the military/industrial complex, run the racists and militarists out of government. End the tyranny of the rich.... You knew they were bad...this book shows you just how bad they are...in shocking and sickening detail.

Harrowing tale of the Dulles brothers and the ways in which the CIA worked its own agenda regardless of the stated intent of the overt government at that time. If this book is to be believed, the CIA actually orchestrated assassinations of very influential people inside & outside our country. Fascinating and chilling.

So much little known information is revealed. It sheds an uncompromising look at some of the uglier things our government participated in with Allen Dulles, as the head of the CIA pulling the strings. Full of behind the scenes and little known activities our country was involved in. Chilling. A lot to digest.

Fascinating read on Allen Dulles role in the CIA. Sometimes it is too heavy handed in its opinions about the CIA and Dulles role in its perfidies. But all in all it captures an interesting time and the early development of the agency. Worth time reading.

A must read for a clearer understanding of how the US has devolved so quickly from a "shining City" to the thug that risks the survival of the Planet, all in the name of power shortsightedness and greed.
I was hooked and listened to the book twice!

A wonderful read on a terrible time in the nation's history. If the evidence presented in this book is accurate, then it is safe to say it was a time of a coup d'etat where the interests of some of the wealthiest families in America, conspired, under the auspices of Allen Dulles's network of intelligence, organized crime ties, and psychopathic killers undermined the wishes of the majority in the nation, to say nothing of the constitutional ideals that they were allegedly installed to defend. If the evidence is true, then the oligarchies that were behind the scenes are as vile as the crimes that were committed- crimes that included the assassination of both John and Bobby Kennedy. Those that perpetuated such a climate, if the evidence that is presented is accurate, include both the director of the CIA and the FBI, as well as members of the Chief Joints of Staff. It is a book that does little to install confidence in the facade that calls itself our government.

If you want to understand today's politics, go read this book right now. Only through the lens of history and the Dulles legacy of behind-the-scenes maneuvers will you be able to understand how Donald Trump and the hardcore right wing are able to exist in this country, and what kind of threat they actually pose to our future.

Excellent. Talbot presents an in-depth portrayal of Allen Dulles shaping the CIA to propagate his worldview. The dark side of the federal government and the machinations of the intelligence agencies with their many intrigues, both legal and illegal, are the focal point for the book. A major theme explores the assassinations of J. F. Kennedy and R. F. Kennedy.
Most of the characters in the story are developed fully and in-the-round, the way a novelist would dramatize them. For readers who desire references for the evidence given, a plethora of sources are provided and such readers will spend many happy hours following their leads.

The truth of Allen Dulles is more profoundly disturbing than any fiction could approach. A life lived above the law and with little regard for those it hurt, this book serves as an example of those who would corrupt the American ethos in the name of patriotism.

Wow - this will give you goosebumps, and bring a whole new perspective to Snowden's revealings. I knew Dulles was a slime, I had no idea how sick and ugly slimy he was. A real American scum bag and crook. Narcissistic and self delluded. How do sickies like this get to gather such power ?? JFK was braver than I thought in ridding this vermin from the CIA. There's probably a whole generation of vermin infected dupes at the Agency now from Dulles orchestrations.

This is a completely fascinating book, well-written and completely enjoyable. The story is amazing and very troubling, well-documented and essential to understanding how America has evolved to today's sad and scary reality. Highly recommended!

The Dulles Brothers were not "dull" as some lamestream media would suggest. As a former government program manager, faced with continuing programs whose dubious continuation are strangling the Constitution in the guise of national security, I know the revelations in Talbot's tome are correct. Now he needs to take and in-depth look at the mystery surrounding the death of CIA director William Colby. Jack Kennedy tried to break up the CIA and look where it got him. A book for all hystorians to have on their shelves after reading.

This is an absolutely majestic history. It's not only meticulously written and detailed. It actually reads like a spy thriller. I couldn't put it down. It is essential reading for anyone who wants insight into the 20th century's darkest Americans. Brilliant.

This book reads like a spine chilling fictional spy thriller. That is, until you remind yourself you're reading well documented yet little talked about history. Then it turns into a mind blowing experience. The author provides an amazing reading experience.

I enjoyed the frankness of the author and the research involved in answering many questions about the CIA, post WWII. The death of JFK and his brother, RFK, deeply saddened me, especially when I learned who was involved and why. But more than that, it was a history of an American era that was influenced by the CIA.

A lot of details about that very important period of intelligenc history came out in this book. Really enjoyed hearing a different point of view based on a lot of facts that have come available more recently. Well worth the read.

A lot of details about that very important period of intelligenc history came out in this book. Really enjoyed hearing a different point of view based on a lot of facts that have come available more recently. Well worth the read.

This is a thoroughly engaging book for the most part and it seems clear that at the very least Allen Dulles was a textbook sociopath. Before reading this book I was totally ignorant of the myriad players in the shadowy world of "deep politics" that have wreaked so much havoc on the international stage, and who clearly laid the foundation for the way much of the world views the United States today. I agree to some extent with another reviewer that the case for Dulles being the point man for the Kennedy assassination is mostly conjecture, but this did not diminish my enjoyment of this fascinating read. Regardless, there is so much proof that Dulles was complicit in a great number of evil deeds over the course of his long career, it is quite plausible he was capable of orchestrating JFK's murder.

Great book. Talbot is an excellent writer and this book moves along briskly. His research is supplimented by interviews with family members of Allen Dulles and he dives deep into the Dulles family history and the co-dependencies and disfunctions that drove him to be the man he was. This is a excellent chronicle the history of the CIA and their pattern of corrupting influence in foreign policy. Anyone interested in deep government should read this book.

Criminal trail on the CIA of Allen Dulles needed for the TRUTH to make America free again. Presentation at the JFK library in Boston of the books The Devil's Chessboard, Mary's Mosaic, JFK and the Unspeakable, and The Secret Team would be a fantastic tribute for JFK and RFK. They and our country were murdered by the CIA of Allen Dulles..

This is a stunning indictment of Allen Dulles and his direction of the CIA, especially in the decade and a half after World War II when Dulles and friends actively recruited and protected ex Nazis because of their usefulness as anti-Communists. The insidious influence of Dulles et al on U.S. foreign policy -- including assassinations in Africa and Latin America, not to mention the coup in Iran, is exhaustively spelled out in a book that is a veritable clue to the missing pieces in the Cold War narrative. Talbot is, unfortunately, something of fanboy to the atrocious JFK, whose moral turpitude and political ineptitude are mostly overlooked or shrugged off. His case against the CIA as a moving force in the plot to assassinate Kennedy is anecdotal but persuasive. In all, a very important work of recent history.

A remarkably well-researched book that systematically demonstrates how Allen Dulles was a major power broker influencing important American foreign and domestic policy across many presidential administrations. The thoughtful reader will recognize the parallel of forces being contested today (corporate/wall street interests vs. the needs of individual citizens) as a continuation of dynamics at play throughout the time period in this riveting book.

This book shines light on the beginnings of he Cold War and the part Wall Street played in it. The inditement of the American Aristrocracy both corporate and social as they sacrifice America's hope and soul on the alter of their own greed.

Ranging from Allen's costing up to leading Nazis at the end of WW2 to his approval of the killing of Kennedy this book contains terrifying details of the overthrow of of governments and the torture and killing of those who oppose the US' Empire. A must read for those who want to understand our world.
Dr. Ronald F. Price, OAM.

This is an exceptionally well researched and written book. It is indispensable for anyone truly interested in post WW II US politics. What was done and why it was done. The Dulles brothers are definitely in the hot seat and it's going to take a hell of a lot of counter evidence to convince me that they don't deserve to fry forever in the hell of historical judgment. My only negative critique is that it ends too suddenly without a decorous rounding up and off and the general asking of questions for future researchers to follow up.

Thoroughly researched, well told, the unbelievable deceit and utter treachery and treason that is difficult to believe could have occurred in the USA. I will give this to many friends, to seed serious discussions that give perspective on our current affairs.

David Talbott has done a masterful job of not only exposing the web of financial and political CONNECTIONS that made the rise of the National Security State possible, but even more importantly, the shared values that do not include either morality or self-restraint. That even such a man as James Jesus Angleton could eventually recognize that their true motives had been utterly evil is eloquent proof that the devil had indeed come to own the chessboard of international politics and finance.

Intricate detailed description of the backroom activities of the power elite and Yale personnel who ran US policy secretly after WW2. Descriptions of the people and relationships that set up this network are openly discussed using newly available records. The group planned overseas coups in numerous countries, some of which we still deal with today, assassinations of leaders and common people as was convenient to silence them for the CIA and corporate power brokers. Ultimately leading to the US Coup d'etat in the USA in Dallas TX in 1963. President Kennedy's policiesa and orders were not looked on favorably by the blind anti communist personnel of the CIA and their corporate and political cohorts. The coup was their solution. Finally speculation about the remainder of this group operating today at the behest of the corporate oligarchy in the USA is discussed. Well written with photos of the main characters this book will comprehensively present the activities of the Dulles brothers and their aliies and how the President and US Congress were undermined repeatedly.

This is an absolutely indispensable "secret history" of United States foreign policy. Writing with fact, clarity, and authority, David Talbot gives substance to what had previously been only marginalized conjecture. It will be very hard for even the soberest open-minded reader to dismiss the appalling possibilities he raises, including Dulles's possible role in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I personally found the book all the more engrossing as my late father, John Keppel, a United States Foreign Service Officer, knew (and roundly disliked) both Allen and John Foster Dulles (the latter of whom he briefed, when my father was in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research). I wish my father were alive to read this book. I know that he had come utterly to distrust the secret government he had once served (albeit as a diplomat, not a spy), and I believe he would have endorsed this book's highly disturbing findings.

Allen Dulles, perhaps the most controversial Director of the CIA, held the job while his brother was Secretary of State. Both were Wall Street lawyers, unapologetically elitist and perhaps a bit too enamoured of the British scorn for democratic process. The book is brilliant

Excellent book. Great reading for anyone interested in modern history which is being played out every day of our lives. It's dark characters are unfortunately real men who shaped policy that still haunts us today.

Suspenseful to the last page even though we know the ending. It reads as a thriller while its in depth-research covers aspects and angles of the last several decades of American history which up to now had still been left unexplored. Sheds light and connects dots on troubling mysteries and intrigues we have always suspected but could never quite convincingly articulate until now.

I would agree with the reviewer who says to ignore the one star reviews. They are all likely written by those with a stake in the truth never being known. Should be required reading for all Americans.